Improvement in harvester-droppers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.. D. S. HARNER.

Harvester Dropper.

Patnted my 5, 1870.

I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. D. S. HARNER.

v Harvester Dropper. 7 No. 104,953. Patented July 5, 1870.

FIG.8.

.4 FIG and unworn ones.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

DAVID S. l-IARNER, OF XENIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM T.CAREY, OF SAME PLACE.

lM PROVEM ENT IN HARVESTER-DROPPERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 104.953, dated July 5,1870.

I, DAVID S. HARNER, of Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Harvesters, of which the following is aspecification:

Nature and Object of the Invention.

My invention relates, principally, to an improved apparatus fordepositing the cut grain in a swarth sufficiently distant from thatwhich is left standing to be out of the way of the machine in thesucceeding cut.

General Description with Reference to the Drawmy.

Figure l is a perspective view of a machine embodying my improvements,the dropper being swung open and the cut-off dropped. Fig. 2 is anenlarged top view of the main frame without the platform. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a portion of the machine, showing the dropper in itsclosed position to receive the grain and the cut-off elevated so as tostand clear of the falling grain. Fig. 4 is a vertical section throughthe ground-wheel in the plane of the counter-shaft. Figs. 5 and 6 are,respectively, vertical and horizontal sections of the pitman. Fig. 7 isa transverse section of the guard or finger-bar and the cut-off inposition. Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are to enlarged scales.

A main frame, A, suitably constructed for the support of the variousoperative parts, has firmly affixed to it axles B. whose extremities areprovided with sleeves O, of steel or chilled iron, which constitute thespindles upon which the wheels D revolve, and which, on becoming worn,can be removed and replaced with new Affixed to each groundwheel D, andconcentric therewith, is an interior gear-wheel, E. The wheels E meshwith pinions F, which, revolving freely upon a counter-shaft, G,journaled in the main frame, operate through the medium of a customaryratchet movement, H, to rotate said shaft by any forward rotation ofeither ground-wheel. Also mounted loosely upon the said shaft Gis abevel spur-wheel, I, which, in the operative condition of the machine,is compelled to revolve with said shaft by its engagement with a slidingclutch, J, which rotates with said shaft, but which, when the machine isnot re quired to operate, can be liberated by the act of sliding backthe clutch, and in this condition of these parts the machine may bewheeled or driven about from place to place without working the cutter.

Pivoted to the counter-shaft G and to a bracket or projection, A, fromthe main frame is a gravitatin g frame, K, to which the fingerbar It ispivoted. This pivoted connection is madeby the shoe L, which, being bentupward at both ends, encircles in two places the rod K of thegravitating frame. The rear portion of the shoe L, being carried upward,forms the reel-post M, which post is forged or cast in one piece withthe shoe L. The finger-bar It hasan elevated portion or guard, is, towhich the fingers are attached, or in front of which they project, andbehind which the prongs a of my dropper N rest in theirreceiving-position.

Projecting perpendicularly from the head of the dropper is a shaft, 0,whose lower end is stepped in a lug, P, and whose upper portion occupiesa slot, q, in a bracket, Q, projecting from the reel-post, andterminates above said bracket inacrank, 0. The slotqis L-shaped, so as,in the receiving position of the dropper, to hold the latter up behindthe guard, and in its discharging position to allow the tips of itsprongs to drop upon the ground and its load of grain to slide easilyoff. A projection, n, from the dropper-head, impinging against thereel-post, serves to limit the outward sweep of the dropper. Pivoted tothe reel-post, in the manner shown, is the arm B of my cut-off S.

J o urna-led athwart the frame is a rock-shaft, T, from which depends anarm, U, from which a cord, "at, passes around a' pulley, u, in the headN of the dropper. Projecting upward from the rock-shaft T is aperforated arm, V, from which a cord, '0, is carried to the crank o ofthe dropper, and from which another cord, r, is carried to the upturnedheel r of the cut off arm. Treadles t t projecting from the rock-shaftT, conveniently for the use of a person occupying the seat, enable suchperson to simultaneously open the dropper and close the.cut-ofi", (seeFigs. 1 and 2,) and'again to simultaneously close the dropper and openthe cut-off. (See Fig. 3.)

In order to enable the operator to adjust the parts so as to properlyexecute these movements, one or both of the arms U and V may have aseries of perforations, as shown, for the reception of the cord. Inorder, however, to enable the operator to work the dropper by hand, whenhe may desire to do so, there may be provided an arm, X, connected byrod Y with a lever, Z.

The pit-man which conveys motion from the wrist l to the knife 2terminates at one end in a hook, 3, which occupies an eye, 4, in theheel of the knife, and slack motion of said hook in said eye isprevented by means of a sleeve or thimble, 5,which is set and held upagainst the outside of the knife-heel by means of a nut, 6, and which isheld against rotation by means of a set-screw, 7, whose point enters acavity, 8, in the pitman-rod. The other end of said rod screws into atwo-eyed coupler, 9, and is made fast to any desired adjustment by apinch-nut, 10. This enables the rod to be lengthened or shortened, asmay be desirable for accurate and proper cut of the sickle. Thecoupling-head 9 receives the wrist 1 into one of its eyes 11 or 12, andwhen one eye has worn slack the other eye can be placed upon the wrist.When both eyes become too much worn for efl'ective use, the old couplermay be replaced by a new one.

The gravitatin g platform K may be elevated and depressed by means of alink, 13, attached to the short arm of lever 14, the latter beingmaintained at any desired position by pin 15,

occupying either of the perforations oficurved bar 16. Motion iscommunicated from bevelwheel I to the wrist 1', which operates theknife-pitman,by means of pinion 17 and shaft 18. The shaft 19 of reel20. carries a scored pulley, 21, which is rotated by a band, 22, thatpasses around a large pulley, 23, the latter being secured to one of theground-wheels, I). The reel-shaft is maintained at any desired ele:vation upon post M by the set-screw 24.

' Claims.

3. In combination with the laterally-swing ing dropper N n n, thevertical swinging cutoff R 'r S, both being operated simultaneously fromthe rock-shaft T, in the manner substan tially as set forth.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

DAVID S. HARNER.

\Vitnesses GEo. H. KNIGHT, JAMES H. LAYMAN.

